Grain-door for cars.



GRAIN DOOR FOR GARS.

APPLICATION FILED NQV. 16, 1907.

924,065. Patented June 8, 1909.

2 SHEETS-sund.

jJ.. HENRY. GRAIN DOOR FOB. GARS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 16, 1907 924,065. Patented June s, 1909.

2 SHEBTS-SBEET 2.

JOHN HENRY, OF GRAND FORKS, NORTHy DAKOTA GRAIN-DOOR FOR CARS.-

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 8, 1909 Application ledNovember 16, 1907. Serial No.402,421.

To all whom 'it may concern.;

Be it knownv that I, JOHN HENRY, of Grand Forks, in the countyof GrandForks and State of North Dakota, have invented certain new 'and usefulImprovements in Grain-Doors for Cars; and I do hereby delare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention,"such as will enable others sl 4illed in the art to which itappertains to ma te and use the same.

My invention relates to an improvement in grain doors for cars theobject being to provide means for automatically elevating or moving thedloor out of the way, after it has been unlocked and the pressure of thegrain against same removed.

lVith this end in view my invention consists in the parts andcombinations of parts as will be more fully explained and 'pointed outin the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view in elevation of asection of a `car from the inside showing the door in its lockedposition. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the door elevated. Fig. 3 isa similar View from the outside showmg the locking mechanism. Fig. 4 isa View in horizontal section throughthe' door and posts. Fig. 5 is aview in vertical section, showing the door in .its'opera'tive positionin full lines and in its folded position against the underside of theroof, in dotted lines.

1 represents the side sill, and 2 the door posts of an ordinary box car,each post being provided with a recessor keeper -3, the inner wall of-which is beveled inwardly from its top, for a purpose to be hereinafterexplained.

- The door is composed of an uppermain section 4, and a lower section 5hinged to the main section, and adapted toswingoutwardly so as to.permit of the free discharge of all the grain adjacent to the-doors.The upper section of the door comprises a top panel G, extending fromone door post 2 to the other, and having an easy fit between them, andthe strips or battens 7 to which the panel is secured at its ends. Theseend strips or battens', overlap the inner 'faces of the posts'2,- andabsolutely prevent the door from being forced out by a Vpressure fromwithin. The battens\7 project below the panel 6, and when in operativeposition, reston the sill 1, as shown in Figs 1 and 2.

The lower section 5 of the door, is hin ed to panel (l, the hinges beingon the outside I charged.

so as to permit section 5, to swing outwardly when it is desired todischarge the grain from the car. This lower hinged sect1onv5 of thedoor, is overlapped at its.' ends by the battens which prevent it fromswinging, or being' forced inwardly, and its lower end is adapted torest against the inner .edge of the door sill 9, which latter as shownis secured to vthe side sills of the car between the posts 2.

With the door in place, with the lower edge ofthe door projecting belowand engaging the inner edge of the sill, the lower or hinged sectionwill be held against any swinging movement, hence in order to releasethe lower section, so as to permit it to swing outwardly, the doorfastening devices, to be hereinafter described, must first be released,and the door moved bodily upwardly, by means of a bar or stick insertedbetween the door sill and the shoulder 8 near the lower edge of thedoor. As soon as the swinging section of the door is clear of the doorsill, the pressure of the grain will force it outwardly, thus permittingthe grain rwhich will gravitate out, to be dis- The swinging section ofthe door is provided on 'its inner face with the flanged strips 10, theanges 11 of which bear againstthe edges of the battons 7 and prevent theescape ofV any grain at these points.

Pivot-ally secured to the outer face of the upper section el of thedoor, bars 12, the shorter ends of bars are .turned to av horizontalposition, enter the socketedkeepers 13 in the posts 2.,

and lock the door in place. The inner walls of the keepersare inclindedupwardly and outwardly so that the bars 12, which enter the keepers frombelow, engage the inclined walls .as shown at 14, and\forcibly pull thegate into contact with the inner faces of the post, while the contact ofthe locking bars with the top walls of the keepers, force` the gatesolidly down onto the floor of the car.

The upper section of the gate is provided on its outer face with theshouldered plates 15, two of which are for holding the lock-v ing bars12 horizontally or in their locking positions, and two for holdin thebars in vertical position. The shoul ers on these plates have inclinedsurfaces over which the yielding or spring Shanks of the bars ride,

when moving to ntheir two positions, the shoulders operating to hold thebars in these are the locking" which, when positions against thepossibility of accdental displacement. To movey the bars from oneposition to another, it is simply necessary to flex or bend the baroutwardly until it is clear of the shoulder holding it in place, andthen turn it on its axis until it is in its other position.

If desired I may provide the upper section 4of the door with an inwardlyfolding hinged leaf 17, which forms an' upper extension, and which maybe used in extra heavy cars, or when it is desired to load above the topof the main section of the dooi'.

The door thus constructed is provided at its side edges, near its top,with the brackets 18 to which the free ends of the cords or cables 19are attached. These cords or cables extend upwardly and .pass througheyes (or sheaves) 20 secured to the car frame in a plane above the dooropening, and are secured at their free ends to the end of a coiledspring the latter being secured to the ear frame to one side of the doorand preferably in the plane of the eyes 20. The spring is of a strengthto lift and sustain the door in its elevated position, and the parts areso constructed that the tension or power of the spring is slightlygreater than the weight of the door, hence but slight power is requiredto lower the door to its I operative position.

The upper ends of the locking bars 12, are bent inwardly at their upperends as at 22, and as the door is elevated, their bent ends pass betweenthe guiding brackets 23 and the supporting pintles 24, the bent end ofthe bars 12 projecting toward the latter. By now turning the gateinwardly and upwardly toward the roof of the car, the bent ends of thelocking bars engage and pivot on the pintles 24 and support the upperend ofwthe gate, suitable hooks or other devices being attached to theroof of the car for engaging and holding the free or lower end ofthefgate in a position immediately under the roo When ,the gate isreleased from the roof and turns to its vertical position, the hookedends of the bars 12, becolne disengaged from the pintles 24 thus leavingthe gate free to be pulled down into its operative position.

When the door is not in use, it can be moved up and then turned againstthe roof of the car and secured in this position out of the way, by thehooks or any suitable fastening device before referred to.

lVhen it is desired to convert the box ear into a grain car, the door islowered, and is secured in place by turning the locking bars from theirvertical positions to horizontal positions, the handles or shanks of thelock- -ing bars, being readily accessible from the keepers, and the doorbodily raised by a bar or stick inserted between the door sill and theshoulder on the door. As soon as the swinging section of the door clearsthe door sill, the pressure of the grain forces said swinging sectionoutwardly thus permitting the grain to flow from the car. All the grainbearing against the door, will gravitate out, and as soon as all thatwill naturally flow from the car has passed out, the door will then befree Vto be raised out of the way, thus permitting the remaining grainto be shoveled out.

It is evident that many slight changes might be resorted to in therelative arrangement of parts shown and described without departing fromthe spirit and scope of my invention hence I would have it. understoodthat I do not wish to confine myself to the exact construction hereinshown and described, but,

Having fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters-Patent, is l 1. In a grain door for cars, the combination of a door, bars on the door for locking same in operative position,and pintles adjacent to the top of the door frame, the locking bars onthe door, adapted to engage said pintles when the door is elevated andturned upwardly and cooperating with said pintles to form temporaryhinges.

2. In a grain door for cars` the combination a door, bars on the doorfor locking same 'in operative position, the upper ends of said .barsheilig bent outwardly, and pintles on the car frame adapted to beenga-ged by the bent ends of the locking bars when the door is elevatedand turned up against the underside of the top of the car, said lockingbars adapted to coperate with said pintles to form temporary hinges.

3. The combination with a car and pintles on the door posts, of avertically movable grain door, and pivoted bars on the door cooperatingwith the door posts to lock the door and coperating with said pintles toform temporary hinges.

4. The combination with a ear and pintles and guide brackets in frontthereof on the door posts below' the lintel, of a vertically movabledoor, and hook bars on the door, said hook bars movable between theguides vand pintles on the door posts and arranged to project above theguide brackets when the dooris raised and adapted to cooperate with saidpintles to form temporary hinges for the door.

In testimony whereof, I have signed thisl specification in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN HENRY. Witnesses A. N. MrroHnLL, GEonen F. DowNlNo.

